Lucid (#wattys2016)

Twenty-Three (Revised)

Isaac tried to sit up, but his head slammed on metal and he fell over. He rubbed the spot where it had connected with his head, and he lied down. There was barely enough room for him to stretch out his legs, and he looked around. He was stuck inside a metal cage, and he reached his free hand out, feeling for the lock. He found it, and he quietly wished that he had the key. He scanned his surroundings outside the cage, and he saw multiple tables and chairs laid out in a small room, but he couldn't see the edges of it. It was surrounded by wall of fire, and there was no space for a door anywhere. He wondered if he was set here to die.

Before he could think anymore, a small tornado appeared by one of the tables, and Matt came into the room. It looked around, finally resting its eyes directly on him, squinting. It leaned down, and Andre appeared at another table, then Isaac's parents at another, and afterwards, Andre's parents appeared as well. The last person to appear was Derek, and Isaac narrowed his eyes at all of them, giving them the middle finger. They had betrayed his trust, and his parents had even tried to put him in a mental institution, and now he hated them all. He had to say something to them, to get his frustrations out. "Why? Why did you do it?"

Andre was the first to reply, a cocky grin spreading off of the face that Isaac now wanted to punch. "Whenever Matt takes over the new world, we'll be the kings and queens. We'll be the ones who survive, who drive the remaining slaves to do our bidding. We'll survive the inevitable fire of this world, and there's nothing that you can do about it."   

"But still," Isaac yelled, "How can there be an end of the world, if I'm the access for it?! Didn't you bother to think any of this through?" Matt looked at him, and it released a wicked laugh, ringing through his ears. "I guess you don't get it, Isaac... I can force you to let me through you, and there's nothing that you can do about it. Let's just get this over with. Shake my hand."

"Never!"

"But Isaac," his mother stated, "he can force you to do it anyways. We just want you to have it a bit easier."

"If you can take over the world without me, then just do it! I won't help you and your evil plans!"

Matt glanced over at all of the people sitting by the tables, and he looked back at Isaac. "I'm gonna cut you a deal," he said. "I'll still take over the world without you, but it's easier for me to get to the world with your help. If you're a good sport, then, well... I'll let you reign over all of these people. You'll be able to live like a king, hell, you'll be a king! All you have to do is shake my hand..."

Isaac was once again unsure what to do. If Matt could take over the world without him, then why would it want his help? It couldn't be trusted, but he wanted to survive. Could he really become a king? Would it be worth it to have the world end? He gazed at the other people in the room, and he had an epiphany.

"He's lying to you, all of you! Why would you trust him, after everything that's happened? How could you trust him?"

It was Derek's turn to speak. "Isaac, I'm gonna have to come clean. We knew from the beginning about what was happening. We knew that you were going to have the dreams. We knew that Lucy would die. In fact, Max was the driver in that car! Max killed Lucy!"

Isaac's head was spinning wildly. He thought about all of the things that had happened, all of the dreams. He thought about Lucy's death, the black 2005 Honda Accord, how the police could never quite catch it. He thought about Andre, how he had trusted him, and then his mind switched to Derek. He knew about the dreams before he had told him! Everything that he knew was a lie, and there was no one he could trust. Everyone that he had knew had betrayed him, all for greed. They were blind, and they didn't see the bigger picture. They didn't know anything about what Matt would do to them.